And now for something completely different....

I had all intention of reworking the stencils and making some bigger but after I went home and starting cutting a larger phone I changed my mind. I don't know, I guess I lost momentum with the idea and consequently, loss interest as well. I started something else. Still within the street art aesthetic. This time, markers. I'm not overly happy with the results. My small sketches turned out better than the larger drawings. With about a week left, I might try at least one or two more ideas. Ha. But as I mentioned in the crit last week, this semester has all been about experimenting with different techniques. I'm already thinking that after this semester, I'm pretty much going to be done with street art. At least in the studio setting.... It's something I needed to play with for my own edification but I know I'm not going to be doing anything with it while in Ireland. I think this summer will be my turning point for my work into a whole new direction. My hopes are to focus on a more technical process of drawing or possibly playing with photography. I say this now but I rarely end up doing what I originally set out to do sooo we'll see. I've also been thinking a lot about sound and music and the emotional responses one experiences from auditory stimulation....talk about something completely different!

Alright...back to plugging away on this paper for the other class. I can't wait to be finished with it. Pop art has consumed my dreams the last few nights. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

Ugh.

I've been building a lot of bikes at work and I really enjoy it. I'm working with my hands. My mind clears of all the other crap going on in my life and I'm focused on just the bike and fitting the pieces together and tightening screws. There's also a sense of accomplishment when the bike is ready to roll out to the sales floor.
This is how I should feel when I'm making art, or, it's how I'd like to feel. But lately it feels more like a struggle of confusion and uncertainty. I have all these parts but I'm unsure of how to put them together. I'm frustrated. This frustration makes me angry. The anger makes me want to punch things. My attention span, already short, is even shorter. My patience, wearing thin. My comprehension, slipping. Trying to read articles for class and all the words blend together. Trying to write about what I read for class and I'm grasping for words that I once knew but can no longer remember. I feel dumber. I feel depressed. I feel burnt out.
Hopefully I can scrap the recesses of my brain to come up with something to say at the crit this weekend. :[

Stencil Action

Last night I got a chance to test out how the stencils worked with spray paint. After a few tries I realized to get the clearest image I had to hold the stencil flat in spots that tried to bubble-up and make sure I was spraying the paint at a 90 degree angle from the paper. I got some decent images but I think to get the best results I need to make sturdier stencils that will lay flatter and stiffer with stronger joints of the more intricate shapes.

Stencils and Figures

Cutting out the stencils isn't nearly as fun as making the design on the computer. And some of my designs turned out to be rather intricate, like the bike and the pay phone. I did buy a ceramic blade that seems to help with tight turns. But I think those designs might work better at a larger scale than the standard 8.5 x 11 I printed them out on. I might have to print them on a couple sheets and tile them together. Another thought was trying to use my enlarger...but I don't really like the one I have. It's a very small copy zone so its harder to trace larger drawings and get them to line up. If anyone has suggestions for an easier tool like maybe and old school over-head projector and where to get one...
I haven't tried spraying the stencils yet since I only cut them out on card stock paper. Not sure how they'll hold up. I'm going to try to do some on thin cardboard but they'll be harder to cut. These I traced on to sheets of wood and painted in. I like the brown tones on wood. It's less harsh than black and white and a little more unexpected from typical street art stencils. One of my concerns with working in this style is I don't want to come off as a poser. Copying a street art style without the street creed. I mean, I've done stuff on the streets but not to the level as the big names out there. One options is to start doing more on the streets.... and I thought about how a life size stencil of the payphone on a random street wall might look... But to avoid issues of legality and such... I'm also trying to think of ways to make the stuff I do in the studio different, my own kinda thing. So hmmm....



I also started my figure drawing class at Fleisher this week. I know that work doesn't count for my grad studio stuff but I was thinking it might help in some way if I want to introduce figures in my work. I think I might but I'm not sure in what way or how it relates to the other images I'm working with. I guess it doesn't really have to, it could be its own thing. But I'm gonna see if I come up with some ideas after a couple more classes. Even if I don't use in studio work now, its always good to stay fresh with figure drawing skills and practice getting proportions down.
These are a few quick 2-5 minute drawings. I saw myself getting better as the class went on and I got back into it.

Stencils

Monday was an absolutely perfect day to be outdoors. Unfortunately, I spent most of the day inside working... But I did manage to squeeze in some outdoor studio time on my porch before the sun went down. I made a few more shopping list stencils and tried playing around with an idea using them but it wasn't really working for me. I was kinda thinking of seeing what they looked like over old store receipts. Or maybe collage them with transfers of the handwritten lists. I dunno...

Tuesday I spent some time on the computer going through some photos and finding ones that might make interesting stencils. I played around with them in photoshop using a method that is quicker and easier than going point by point in illustrator, though not as customizable. And i still had to go back in and clean them with the paint brush and eraser so I don't know if it really ended up being all that more faster in the end. But anyway... I'm going to try printing and cutting them out next.

Discarded

As I mentioned before, my square coffee and bike paintings were feeling flat and Jennie hit it on the head saying they were too illustrative by having the word "bike" with a bike. She also mentioned the sketch of the ransacked bike being a more interesting subject. I enjoyed how she worded it,

There's a sadness and irony in it, and it's an observation of something we see every day, and don't think about much. By drawing it, you make me think about how sad it is, how funny it is that it's still 'secure' and it's also a reminder of human ingenuity - someone was mischievous enough to recognize the opportunity someone left them. In a funny way, it's a portrait of urban life.

I suppose that was what I was thinking, in not so many words, when I took the original photograph. I've always been attracted to images of urban blight for some reason. I'm not really sure how to put it all into words but there is something interesting there. I have a couple photos I've taken over the years of old bikes. It might nice to make a series about them. Maybe juxtapose an old bike with wording you'd find in an advertisement for a new one. hmmm...
And it fits into my growing collection of discarded items. I'm thinking I might also want to do a series with old pay phones. I always feel a little sad when I see one and it reminds me of how quickly technology changes and the new makes the old obsolete.

And some what related but not really... I like to take photos of dead birds. I took this one today. It may seem a little morbid but I see it as a reminder of how precious life and nature are. I've painted "live" birds before, what if I were to paint a dead one?

Don't Forget the Butter...

So this week I started working on stencils. I haven't gotten as much done as I would like cause I spent most of my studio time cleaning and organizing, and then cutting stencils can be tedious work. Anyway, what I have going so far is based on the shopping lists I've collected. I started selecting common grocery items to make text stencils. I'm not really sure how I'm using them or what they mean just yet. But I did have a laugh at the idea of shopping lists stenciled on walls around the city as little reminders to pick up milk, bread, etc on the way home. One of my frustrations from looking at a lot of street art stencils is that I get envious of the skills or ideas. The whole, "why didn't I think of that?" And then it becomes a struggle to think of a way to set myself apart with my own style and concepts. But I'm getting there... And I'm going to try doing some more stenciling ideas tonight.

I've also forgot to get butter at the store the last 3 times I was there. Hopefully I don't forget when I stop on my way home today.